Welcome to my blog! This is a place of information and hope for fellow Canadians who are suffering from Lyme disease. I want to share with you the knowledge I have gained during my fight with this debilitating, frightening, and misunderstood illness. I hope you will be blessed.

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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Low carb high fat. What?????

Sometimes I really have a love-hate relationship with food. I love my sweets and carbs, but hate how they make me look and feel. It's the food paradox. We need food to fuel our bodies and keep us alive, but the very thing that sustains us can cause illness, obesity, and even death. What it boils down to is knowing which foods bring health, and which foods cause illness.

This seems so simple, doesn't it? Well of course we know which foods are BAD for us! But do we really know the whole story? Sure, the Mars Bar is bad. The Starbucks Java Chip Frappuccino (my favourite) is bad. No argument there. But did you ever consider that all of the whole grain breads, rice, and pasta that you consume could be a major culprit in your health woes and weight problems?

I've been researching a new approach to food: low carb, high fat! It sounds so wrong, doesn't it? But the research and clinical evidence is in.......people lose weight and become healthier when they limit or better yet completely eliminate carbohydrates (in the form of grains), and increase good fats in their diet, e.g., olive oil, coconut oil, and yes....butter!

I know......it's the opposite of what we have been taught by all of the "experts". I wonder, though, how these experts would explain the obesity epidemic in North America. We're watching our fat intake and eating our 12 servings of grains a day recommended by the Canada Food Guide. So what is causing these health problems?

If you want to explore this topic, I urge you to check out The Diet Doctor. This is an excellent website created by Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt of Sweden. The videos on his website are well worth exploring. Watch his lecture called The Food Revolution (below). It's a 1 hour lecture on the low carb high fat diet - how it works and why it works, not just for weight loss, but for optimal health for everyone.

The most difficult part of eating this way is knowing how to replace the grains and sugars in your diet. Well, I suppose the sugars don't really need replacing. But something has to take the place of the grains. Dr. Eenfeldt explains the diet in detail here. (And by "diet", I don't mean a weight loss plan per se. I mean a way of eating for optimal health. The weight loss is just an added bonus!) This concept isn't new to me. There is a similar program in North America called Maximized Living which I am acquainted with. But before now, I really wasn't ready to radically shift my eating habits. I still don't know if I'm 100% ready, mentally, but I know I need to do something to reverse the weight gain I've experienced since starting my treatment for Lyme disease.

If nothing changes, then nothing changes. So I'm going to give this a shot. In recent weeks, I've been collecting grain-free recipes to use. Thank goodness for Pinterest!

If you are recovering from Lyme disease, you may want to consider a diet such as this. The elimination of carbohydrates and sugar helps with inflammation in the body, and improves immune function.

I realize it may be hard to think about changing the way you eat if you are struggling to overcome your illness. I was there, too. Two years ago, I had neither the strength nor the ability to make such a change in my life. But perhaps consider just a few small changes or shifts that might be manageable - give up the sugar, cut back on your grains, increase your good fats (olive oil, coconut oil, and butter), and eat plenty of protein and vegetables.

I already know I'm going to have some challenges! As I write this, I'm hungry! Clearly, I've not eaten enough fat and protein today, because one shouldn't be hungry on this plan. And perhaps the steamed rice that came with my stir-fry at the food court wasn't the best option. (But honestly, it was the "least bad" food I could find in the food court!)

1 comment:

Paula, I stumbled into your page researching ketogenic diets, and found that the body can thrive without carbs of any kind on an all meat diet and does not need to have a "replacement"or something to take the place of carbs , the body will switch over to burning ketones instead of carbs and self regulate. It is also excellent for weight loss. I would suggest that your stir fry would have been healthier with any of the rice . You can research all meat diets, also check out the poster written by arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, who researched and practiced an all meat diet after spending a year with Inuit tribal people who lived without plant food. It's pretty interesting and might be helpful to you...good luck!

About Me

I’m a fortysomething wife to a wonderful husband, a mom to two great boys, and an elementary school teacher. I live in Canada. I’ve also been battling Lyme disease since January 2011. At this point in time, I appear to be winning the battle, but it was a long road to get here. You can read more about that in My Lyme Story.

Lyme Ticker

I am not a doctor or medical professional. I am not endorsing any particular treatments for individuals. I simply wish to share what has helped me during my struggle with this illness. The content on this blog is for informational purposes only. Please consult a Lyme-literate doctor to evaluate your condition.